Navarre Beach

Alas, this post is not poetic, or even journalistic...it's just a regular uninspired post.  Ignore the "alas" even...it's an effort at it but not much more.  It has taken me a week to punch this out...so here goes.  Shawn and I took the kids on vacation this month.  Five random things about this trip amazed me:  #1  We packed all of our stuff in one (albeit huge) suitcase.  Amazing huh!  I am still proud of it!  I wish it was my awesome packing skills, but the truth is, we just didn't take a lot of "stuff."  #2  The 11 hr drive to and from FL was an extension of the vacation.  So much so that I (quite literally) feel like I have a brand new vehicle.  I appreciate my van so, so much more now that I've been on a long road trip in it.  It is amazing.  As far as vehicles go, it is supposed to be nearly the best, but as with anything that comes my way, I had to be made a believer.   #3  I liked the small confines of the condo.  I liked the "close-ness" it forced on us.  #4  Having a large body of water nearby would have been excessively convenient during the last trimester of both my pregnancies (that's all I'll say about that) as well as during potty training Grace!  #5 The lull of the ocean waves put Noah John to sleep while the constant motion and sound was like visual and audio caffeine for our eldest tyke.  Speaking of her,  the morning we were supposed to leave, she woke up without a voice.  I joked to Shawn, "This could be one nice, quiet drive down to FL."  Grace is a screamer.  Apparently it runs in the family.   Yes, yes, it's safe to say it's genetic.  In case you don't understand, I'll continue.  After one particularly glass-shattering and ear-ringing shriek just a couple days before her voice went out, I told her about the time I screamed so loud at mom that I instantly got laryngitis (true story).  So she assumed she got laryngitis from screaming, when really, she just had a bad cold.  The story goes that I inherited my set of lungs from my aunt Becky.   

Eleven hours after leaving WKY, we pulled into the condo parking lot.  Divia (our gps...oh, yes, we name the inanimate) sent us an alternate route through backwoods AL which I would have normally loved, but not at night!  I was relieved to get to the condo!   Thankfully, both kids are pretty awesome travelers...as long as their bellies are full, their bottoms are dry and I climb between them to read to them every few hours, they are not too hard to please (oh, and as long as I kept the Tylenol in Grace!)  Did I mention we don't even have a dvd player in the van?!

Anyway, we slept well the first night, and when we awoke Saturday, we headed to the beach.  The kids were enamored, but in totally different ways, as mentioned above ;) .  Grace played and played in the sand.  She also ran and ran....to the water's edge, to the chairs, 'round in circles, to the water's edge...you get the drift.  Noah John tuckered out after a nice little rest on me.  I finally handed him to Shawn because I couldn't stop fidgeting.  (Which is where Grace gets it also).  Since Shawn can sit still so well hahahahaha he let Noah John nap on him.  He snoozed but would never admit it.  It was niiiiice.  I was so surprised to be able to relax!  I had envisioned a stressful vacation and had told Shawn multiple times I thought we were crazy for trying a go of it with an 11 month old and croupy 3 year old.  I'm happy to say I was wrong!  My kids surprised me!  The second day, we did more of the same...and again...niiiiiice.  It was a bit harder because we were all tired for some reason.... By the third day, it became abundantly clear that Miss Grace's eyes had gotten sunburned.  Per medical advice, we kept her out off the beach that day.  We drove to Destin, ate some yummy seafood, stopped in for some Dippin' Dots, and let Grace play at the playground and fountain park near the bay.

Noah John was a trooper!  He fussed a time or two, but overall he just went w/ the flow.  He got lots of tactile stimulation from the sand...he even ate handful after handful of it.  Yuck.  The highlight was him standing for a long period of time (maybe 20 seconds?) and taking his very first step.

Shawn and I really enjoyed time away together.  The kids played well together and then separately when they tired out (*note:  which is what I think I love about their age diff of 2 yrs and 8 mos).  Grace and I pouted about leaving and begged Shawn not to make us go (double trouble when we gang up on him!) but as it always does, vacation came to an end.  We have been back in Nebo about a week now and just have the pictures and memories to cherish! 

Noah John, 11 months

(Mother's Day)

Noah John is 11 months old now.  I think I've put off posting about it subconsciously, because he's almost ONE.  The days go by slowly while the years go by fast.  He talks up a blue streak these days...I'll try to list all the words he says now:

Momma
Daddy
Hi!
Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye (it takes him a minute to get it going, but when he does, he repeats it)
Lex (our dog's name--he says it very clearly)
Moo ("What does a cow say, Noah John?"...NJ:  "Mmmmm")
Juice (this one is clear as a bell too)
Drink ("dink, dink")
Kit (for cat or kitten)
Poppa
Nonna
Done or down (we aren't quite sure which but he says it when he's full)

He stands when holding on to something.  He cruises on his John Deere toy tractor.  He hasn't taken a step on his own yet.  I suspect he'll walk about the same time as Grace at the rate he's going.  She walked well at 13 months.  My kids seem to be fast talkers, slow walkers.  ha!  He is our pride and joy, our precious boy!  I pray for him all the time!  I am so thankful for him.  Mother's Day 2010 was more special because he was born!!!

Kentucky Derby

This was supposed to be the the 3rd (or is it 4th) annual Derby party/playdate at our home.  The kids were going to race stickhorses, color pictures of horses, and just be kids...while the moms (and a handful of dads) chased and chowed (chased kids and chowed Derby pie!)  However, God had other plans.  It began raining in the middle of the night and hasn't really stopped, or not for long anyway.  Our yard retains water...this was to be an outdoor event.  We had expected the largest crowd ever.  But, God had other plans.  :)  When I went into G's room around 7:30 this morning, I could tell she had a bad eye infection before I turned the beside lamp on.  Her eye was obviously swollen....  Bless her heart!  She was so extremely irritable yesterday.  She and I just went in rounds and it was, well, awful.  I wouldn't have won any Mom awards if they gave them out, let's just say.  I decided last night that I'm going to have to read my Bible every single day.  Period.  That's that.  It is my only chance of making it out with at least a decent Wife, but especially Parent award, if they ever do give them out.  Well, anyway, I did read The Word today...chapter 1 of the book of Matthew.  I learned that Joseph's granddad's name was Matthan.  (Joseph the husband of Mary, the mother of our Christ).  I like that name.  I think I'll share bits of what I learn every so often.   Obviously my insight today is only skin deep (at best)...but at least I'm starting.  I believe if I just read the Bible daily, I'll be infused with God...even if all I can share here is about someone's name.  (Smiling).  Is a name really trivial though!?  I hadn't realized it until now, but for my last post, I posted a link to my favorite song, "He Knows My Name."  Cool.  That means God even knew Matthan's name!  I'm glad I read about him today.  Maybe he raised his son right...who then raised Joseph right...who then obeyed God and remained with Mary despite her becoming pregnant before they wed.  Remember:  only about 6 people even know I blog here!  This is more of a journal than anything.  And I hope and pray that one day when I print it in book form, I will find a progression of me as a bright-eyed, optimistic firsttime mom all the way through to a wise (or at least wisER) woman of God.  I can hope, can't I?  The Bible says without hope, NOTHING is possible.  But with God, ALL things are possible. (Philippians 4:13)  Thankfully that means there is hope for ME (insert:  my patience or lack thereof and my impulsivity or lack thereof...the list could go on).

I better go.  Noah John is screaming from his crib.  He is fighting sleep today.  I hope he isn't getting pink eye.  I told Grace he shouldn't get "pink" eye because he is a boy.  I guess we program them, huh?  (Girls like pink, most boys don't).  That's a whole other post.